Chapter Text
Xero looked around the Resting Grounds. Nothing ever happened here anymore. He’d been here so long that he’d seen everything there was to see. Sure, it was peaceful, but Xero needed to do something more. He hadn’t tried exiting the Resting Grounds yet, he didn’t know what might happen. After all, he was a ghost. He’d read stories, sometimes it said ghosts couldn’t leave their grave. (Or corpse in some cases.)
Ghosts can’t write books. No one knows what actually happens.
Xero decided today was a good day to try.
After all, you only live…die…once?
So he slowly floated away from his cursed tombstone. He passed other graves he’d already seen. There was a strange room with many platforms, the only way seemed to be up. He’d been in this room once, but he heard strange mumbling so he decided not to investigate.
Now, here he was, investigating.
He phased through a cloth wall and spotted a fluffy purple moth.
He felt he knew the moth, maybe in life. But he couldn’t quite remember. Could she see him? Most of the time, in stories, mortals couldn’t see ghosts. But sometimes some could if they had some sort of special ability. He got the answer when the moth stared right at him.
They didn’t seem to look frightened like he thought some people might be.
“Oh, hello there! You seem to be new, I haven’t seen you before. At least, not dead.”
What did she mean by that? Maybe he did know her.
“I’m Seer, the keeper of this place. But you already know that.” She continued.
Suddenly it hit him. He did know her. He visited her once, in life. Someone else had been there too, but Xero had forgotten the details. He was pretty sure it had been another moth.
“I’m…not new… I just never thought to come around here…I don’t know how long I’ve been here, but it has been a long time. I’m Xero.” He said.
“I know, don’t you remember meeting me?” She asked.
“I’m afraid I don’t remember everything in life. I don’t know why, but I just can’t reflect back on certain things.”
Seer suddenly knew what he meant. “Oh, yes, I must have forgotten, that is a slight side effect of death. Do not worry, these effects are not permanent! You will remember everything, in time.”
Xero wasn’t quite sure about that. He only remembered his childhood, through when the infection began, when he was infected, when he attempted to assassinate The Pale King, failed, and he remembered his brutal death. He tried and tried to remember anything more. He knew there was.
“Can…you…tell me anything about my life?” He asked hopefully. Maybe she had known him well enough to be able to give him some information on the missing pieces.
“I didn’t know you all that well, but I can tell you some things.”
She told him quite the story, how he had come to meet her with Seer’s son, Markoth.
Markoth.
He knew that name, he knew it well. It all was coming back to him. The moth had died, and Xero couldn’t deal with the sorrow. That was what caused him to fall to the light. Xero couldn’t tell if he was crying, but it sure felt like it.
Maybe it was a mistake to remember. He didn’t know where he would go. Seer had told him that ghosts could in fact leave their final resting place, so he was free to leave. (As long as he visited.)
He gave one last look at his rotting tombstone. He hated it with every inch of himself. He wished he could punch it, smash it, destroy it. Leave it nothing but a pile of rubble. For it was nothing but a reminder of his torturous death.
He didn’t remember where Markoth was, but he would look. He knew his corpse must be somewhere in Kingdom’s Edge.
He hoped it was. He didn’t have the faintest idea where else it might be.
So here he was, at the exit of the Resting Grounds. He took a deep breath and walked on. He was pretty sure he didn’t need anything else, he had his nails, and a map, he was a ghost, what else did he need?
He knew the way to Kingdom’s edge pretty well, but the map was still necessary for the little shortcuts everywhere.
The main shortcut was at Blue Lake, which was where he was headed. The Crypt under The Resting Grounds was dark, but since he was a ghost he…glowed slightly? He was able to see, and those creepy husks couldn’t attack him. He didn’t really have anything to worry about.
The only thing was, this place was a total maze. He kept going in circles before he figured out where he was supposed to go.
The calm waters of Blue Lake shone before him. They were beautiful. He decided to stop for a quick rest before he moved on.